HR Insights Blog

Discounting the ones born with a golden spoon in their mouths, there is no success or the successful ones without a story behind it. Success that is seen in modern day greats and front runners is sort of the old “tip of the iceberg”. It is usually a result of a perfect harmony of solid philosophy & strategy, hard work and dedication of able men & women. A successful HR discipline within an organisation is not exempt from it either. Most of the leading global companies are using their data and analytics to contribute to its success in organising the people within effectively. But what are they exactly doing is what has interested most of the other global companies and the leaders alike.

To date, most of the research-based exploration into the impact of human resource management methods has focused on measures that HR professionals can directly influence. These studies have given us a good sense of what HR can specifically do to create internal value, what factors predict individual employee performance, and how to increase workplace satisfaction:

The need for consistently outstanding human resource management is self-evident, but best practices don’t work the same way for every company, and, inexpertly applied, can constrict innovation.

 

 

While certification by its very nature validates that an individual – or in the case of Top Employers’ certification – the organization, is capable of knowing and applying best practices in their field, it has not been as widely used in HR as in functions such as finance. The discipline of identifying and applying “best practices” to commercial enterprise is well established.

 

Multiple studies already provide strong evidence that HRCI certified individuals are more successful in their careers compared to non-certified employees. They tend to get promoted more quickly, see quicker and greater salary increases, and populate more senior positions. Now data analysis suggests that having HRCI certified professionals on staff is correlated to stronger business performance. Companies with more than five HR professionals certified by HRCI are – like the Top Employers certified companies – not only more highly rated by current employees, they also are more likely to show stronger stock performance and revenue growth rates.

Professional certifications in general are continuing to grow in cultural relevance, as the number of new applicants and certifications across industries has increased steadily since 2009. While certifications have long been common in occupations requiring technical skill, and/or with high degrees of associated liability, more are emerging in professional services. Basic Human Resources certification options have been around for forty years but continue to grow in both HR specialty areas and scope of responsibility.

Top Employers has developed a rigorous process of evaluating, benchmarking and certifying companies. They have identified best practices in nine key HR topics.

Consultancies have identified specific HR capabilities and initiatives that correlate to business performance. In 2015, Boston Consulting Group released study results that correlated overall excellence in talent management capabilities with increases in company revenue and profits.

By the time the second industrial revolution ended in 1914, we as a society had begun to harness the power of machines to drive productivity. Steel had replaced iron, automobiles and trains had replaced horses, and the telephone and radio had changed the way we communicate. Now, more than 60 years into the digital revolution, the engine that drives our society and our businesses is not coal-fired, nor is it plugged into the electric grid; it is increasingly the human brain. Optimizing the effectiveness of today’s human assets is a top concern for business leaders, but many organizations are unsure how to select or deploy talent practices that will drive business performance. 

The collective leadership that will be needed to meet the increasing complexities and
challenges around the future of business is unlikely to be sufficiently served by many existing models or programmes. We are about to enter an era of rapid innovation in which organisations will experiment with diverse ideas and new approaches.

As On-boarding processes evolve, it is increasingly important to track key metrics and measure the impact and effectiveness of the programme, particularly if the aim is to assimilate new employees quickly, smoothly and effectively, helping them become productive and aligned with business values and goals.

As Career & Succession Management grows in maturity, it is no surprise to see the processes closely align to, and integrate with, other Talent Management processes. In fact this is now becoming a key feature, as much of the information that we gather either crosses over with, or can be used to enhance, other processes such as Strategic Workforce Planning, Performance Management and Learning & Development. 

While standard measures of the effectiveness of global leadership initiatives (such as participant satisfaction and behavioural changes) continue, there has been a rise in the use of other measures, notably: sales, productivity and engagement scores of leaders’ direct reports, to help measure success. Improvements in these latter measures show a correlation to global leadership development effectiveness. 

In common with many other HR processes, we are now seeing technology assume a central role in the formatting and streamlining of On-boarding. It provides a quick and easy way to ensure that all the traditional paperwork is completed through ‘new joiners’ portals, particularly as systems now have the capacity for documents to be digitally signed. This is an added bonus for hard-pressed HR teams as the amount of manual work, and risk of potential errors, is reduced in the formal processing of new employees. 

The gradual shift towards a more connected, collaborative workforce - and with it the need for key capabilities of social awareness, agility and flexibility - has resulted in Performance Management having a much broader focus. No longer purely concerned with individual tasks, and measuring output and quality, it now involves assessing the effectiveness of employees in the broader work environment. 

We have already reported on how Compensation & Benefits has moved beyond being purely an administrative process and is now used strategically to help with the attraction, retention and engagement of employees. This creates a much closer link between Rewards and other Talent Management processes. 

The selection of candidates, for global leadership development programmes, has historically focused on C-suite executives and predetermined high-potential employees. However, high-performing organisations are now making the process available to any manager who is interested - something that sets them apart from low-performing organisations, and also contributes to better global leadership effectiveness. Global Top Performing companies are less likely to rely on nominations from line management or HR. 

Many businesses report having difficulty with the attraction and recruitment of new employees, especially those who have the necessary, defined skill sets required for specific roles. To overcome this, it is important that they develop, up-skill, and retain their existing employees. This also makes commercial sense when comparing internal development with the cost and difficulty of filling specialist roles externally, or time taken to on-board replacements.

One reason why On-boarding may not have been previously given priority in many organisations stems from a lack of clarity over who has responsibility for owning and managing the process. Historically, HR organised orientation days, ensuring that new employees were fully versed in company policies and procedures. 

We saw how the evolution of the Total Rewards philosophy has enabled organisations to create a bespoke suite of rewards and incentives that will be attractive to employees at different times and career stages. There is a wide range of alternative strategies and methodologies that Top Employers are using to implement their philosophies.